soundoff(22 Responses)

Norien

Come to Chicago- hundreds of judges make $500, 000 ++ and no one bats an eye. Somehow, they just keep on getting elected. One judge who assaulted a sheriff and has been on suspension since March but still collecting pay,
(only $182, 000) got reelected. We don't have time to read, or evaluate- just vote straight Democratic 'cause we know they are for the people.

December 14, 2012 at 3:19 pm |

John

Lol. Omg, he shoudl be jailed.

December 8, 2012 at 2:00 am |

glenn chin

folks, these people risk their lives every day. they deserve more than just gratitude

December 6, 2012 at 3:47 pm |

Eriberto Aguilar

Oh yeah, the chief really is out there dodging bullets every day.

Bell is a working class city, and in case you haven't been paying attention, the entire ruling junta of the city has been on the take for secretly-negotiated, exorbitant salaries that are double or triple those earned by the same people in larger, wealthier cities.

This police chief is absolutely shameless.

December 9, 2012 at 2:58 pm |

Dylan Jaramillo

Yes, like the streets are so dangerous that they are literally dodging bullets... Far more cops die of diabetes and obesity every day than anything to do with their job. The chief position is the safest. That throws your argument out of the water. I could understand slightly over 100k. But around 450k? INSANE!

December 11, 2012 at 6:36 pm |

Jory

Folks, it's California, the leftmost state on the entire left coast. What to liberals famous for? They tax AND they spend. They spend $457K a year on a police chief. But after taxes, that's probably around $200,000 which won't take the poor guy very far in a state pillaged by inflation thanks to decades of largely unchecked liberal politics.

December 4, 2012 at 8:52 pm |

Barbara

Where and why the heck isn't there any oversight for this kind of thing?

December 2, 2012 at 5:00 pm |

Joe T

Instead of trying to double his retirement pension, this man should be going to jail where the city, county and state should put him.

No wonder why so many cities in California are going bankrupt. With leaders like this, every city is prone to bankruptcy.

November 30, 2012 at 9:04 pm |

wendy lynn

it's the politicians and banks that have bankrupt this country

November 30, 2012 at 5:51 pm |

Frank

Depending on the jurisdiction, a Chief of Police or Sheriff, are either appointed or elected to their post and are considered politicians.

December 3, 2012 at 2:54 pm |

Mark H

This is the type of mess the poor folks are talking about. The city collects taxes on these black and latinos hard working people. They vote these clowns in unwittingy and they drain all the monies out of the town untill it dies. Look at Gary,IN look at Flint, MI Benton Harbor, MI can go on and on.....these blood suckers want the most return for least amount of effort........... Learn to use the system....i guess is the lesson.

November 30, 2012 at 11:47 am |

Marc

While corruption isn't good... this a police chief who still made half a million dollars. What about the CEO's of Hostess going out of business and laying off 16,000 employees and still getting golden parachutes worth millions? I bet if all those CEO's made at most half a million and put the rest of the money back into the company then there would be no need to declare bankruptcy. The real crime is that it's seen as acceptable for CEO's to make millions for the work they do. They are extremely overpaid for the work they do.

November 30, 2012 at 11:39 am |

Tough Love

When the true value of Pension accruals & benefits are included, it's a VERY rare Public Sector worker that isn't overcompensated by at least 25%.

November 30, 2012 at 9:16 pm |

John in WNY

The major difference is if you don't agree with how much the CEO of Hostess was making you were free not to purchase their products and take your business elsewhere, with the government you have no choice as your money is taken under threat of force and your opinion is meaningless.

December 5, 2012 at 11:52 am |

Grayden

See, the problem with that is consumers are the LAST to pay in that chain. CEOs/ Board/Shareholders are the first to get paid. Me buying a Twinkie doesn't directly pay the CEO. It pays the store I purchased it at. They paid the manufacturer, who paid the employees of Hostess. Boycotting products means the store won't sell them, but in all likelihood, it would do very little to bring down an executive management structure. Only wasteful spending and non-investment does that. These people really don't care if consumers decide to stop buying a particular product(s), it just means they'll buy something else. Hostess went under, but the higher-ups will make out like bandits regardless. THAT is the problem, that we are a society that supports both a citizen welfare state and a corporate welfare state. Failure is no longer an option is America. We're supposedly just too damn exceptional to allow it!

December 18, 2012 at 2:56 pm |

Gerald Hintlian

He did NOT earn it, he helped himself to thousands like the other "officials" of Bell. Totally corrupt government they had.

November 29, 2012 at 3:55 pm |

Dale Nelsen

Federal, State, and City employees should have 401K like everyone else. This is a huge reason why states are completely broke and don't have enough money to pay for education. Government needs to catch a clue and stop wasting money on pensions and medical of ex employees. Total stupidity.

November 29, 2012 at 2:09 pm |

Chris in Houston

Agreed. A lot of people were asleep at the wheel on this one. Why doesn't someone start a database of all city and state employee salaries and pensions in California for which the information is public record? No journalism required, as soon as it exceeds some threshold, questions should be asked.

November 28, 2012 at 11:59 am |

Larry Marsh

He needs to go to jail with the rest of the crooks that were stealing money in Bell.

November 27, 2012 at 9:11 pm |

Brian Brickey

The video is painful enough, but CNN completely glosses over that a state employee was already approved for a pension of $19,000 a month without any of the City of Bell shenanigans (4:40 mark).

Yeah he's asking to double it as a result of his Bell salary, but HOW DO YOU QUALIFY for a pension of $19,000 a month as an employee of CALIFORNIA? CalPERS doesn't even address that issue. I'm not asking a state employee to live on subsistance, but there should be a cap to the pension! Cap at 125k a year maybe? Don't agree? What should the cap be?

November 27, 2012 at 6:22 pm |

Dave in Oviedo

I still ask: WHERE was the media/press while this was going on under their noses for years and years and years??? All any newspaper or television station had to do was attend the town's budget meetings - or, GASP, get out and talk to actual town's people - and it would have discovered this at ANY time. Yet no one did and this went on for years, with taxpayers socked with giant bills so that these fat-cat politicians could have their teeth whitened and their fingernails polished. The most ironic thing is that the Los Angeles Times won a public service Pulitzer for "exposing" this!!!!??? . . . Heck. I was wondering why the city editor wasn't fired for incompetence. . .

November 27, 2012 at 3:11 pm |

dudleschnabel

Ther is so much coruption in the US Government and in the private sector that it is impossible to catch everything. Put him in jail for life. Set an example.